Modern electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, tablet computers, and other related electronic devices generally include a visual display that includes a graphical user interface for displaying information. A well-known electronic visual display is a touchscreen, which not only displays information, but also serves as an input device.
A touchscreen can display a set of graphical user interface (GUI) elements, also referred to as GUI objects or GUI items, which are organized and displayed on the touchscreen, for example, as icons, menus, uniform resource locator (URL) fields, virtual keyboards, and the like. A touchscreen also permits users to enter data, commands, or other inputs to an application executing on the electronic device. This can be achieved by applying physical pressure with a finger or pointed object such as a stylus to a region of the touchscreen proximal to the relevant GUI element. Thus, a GUI element, for example, a key on a virtual keyboard, can serve as a virtual input device. A user can therefore produce email or text messages, enter a uniform resource locator (URL) into a web browser displayed on the touchscreen, or select menu items or icons displayed on the touchscreen.
As mobile device applications continue to advance, and as mobile devices continue to support new features and functions, application developers require a greater degree of flexibility with regard to developing screen layouts on a touchscreen that are intuitive for the user.